Visit to the Dentist

The health of Gabriella's teeth has concerned me from the first time I met her. Gabriella was allowed to, and had gotten in the habit of, sleeping with a bottle. At this point, I was legally only a "visitor." When your child is being raised by someone else, you have the same concerns as any parent would but you have zero control of what is actually being done. You can make suggestions for how your child should be cared for and those suggestions can either be followed, or not, and you have absolutely no ability to change it. During one of our visit trips, my mother and I had noticed that one of her top front teeth appeared decayed. Gabriella came home on Friday, September 5, 2008 (we actually landed early Saturday morning) and I had her at the dentist three days later, on Tuesday. We went to an oral surgeon for a consult on Wednesday, and the tooth was removed on Thursday! What a welcome home to the United States! Children don't typically start seeing a dentist regularly until they are a little older, but because of our concerns, we see the dentist every six months. During our visit prior to today's, the dentist had found a cavity and did a silver filling with no drilling since this was the least invasive and most permanent solution for a baby tooth. Knock on wood, I, personally, have never had a cavity or any other teeth issues, so I am especially paranoid about keeping Gabriella's teeth healthy. I am happy to share, though, that today's visit found NO new cavities! Hip hip hooray! Our daily tooth brushing struggles are paying off and are well worth the effort! The dentist also noted that her bottom molars were through, but that her top ones were not through yet. Gabriella is scheduled for her first teeth cleaning in August. Hopefully we can keep her cavity-free in the meantime!